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Re: heading question

for

From: chagnon
Date: Dec 16, 2019 9:34AM

Birkir Gunnarsson wrote:
Quote: In our testing, which is limited and focused more on non-technical
users, not a single users knows what landmarks are, let alone how to
navigate by them. End Quote.

We've found similar results, too, as well as the complaint about screen
reader noise (or TMI, too much information that tires my ears).

During the last few years of standards development, I've wondered if we've
over-engineered them too much. Example: Aria is so complicated -- and so
poorly documented -- that it's nearly impossible for content developers and
A T manufacturers to build to it, let alone for end users to use it. A good
example is the number of questions on this list about making Aria work. To
be successful, a standard must be much easier to figure out than that.

I don't intend to single out Aria for this "code bloat:" HTML5, CSS, PDF/UA
and EPUB are following the same path.

It's hard to find the balance between what's helpful and what's overkill. I
like Birkir Gunnarsson's statement: Aria landmarks are for regions of a page
(or document for PDFs and EPUBs), and tags are to label the specific types
of content in those regions.

This type of balance gives users the capability to read the content any way
they need to.

If they want to navigate by heading levels, fine. It's there with a logical
hierarchy when that's needed in a technical document or textbook. If they
want to quickly find a particular section, fine. It's there with Aria
landmarks.

And always KISS -- keep it simple, sweetie.

If we make the system so difficult and costly to implement for developers,
designers, and authors, then it just won't get done at all or at least very
poorly, and that doesn't help anyone.

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